A Heatwave of Desperation Engulfs North Africa

A devastating heatwave is sweeping across northern Africa and southern Europe, leaving a trail of destruction and death in its wake. In the mountainous regions of Algeria, at least 34 people have lost their lives, with 10 of them being soldiers, in a series of wildfires that have been raging out of control.

The authorities are doing everything they can to bring the situation under control, deploying around 8,000 firefighters to the affected areas. Additionally, approximately 1,500 people have been evacuated from their homes to safer zones.

The Algeria’s interior ministry has launched operations to put out fires in six provinces, urging people to avoid areas affected by the blazes and to report any new fires they spot. The ministry has also assured the public that civil protection services will remain on high alert until the fires are completely extinguished.

The wildfires have been fueled by a severe heatwave that has broken temperature records in several Mediterranean countries. The climate crisis is a major factor in the intensification of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods, and wildfires, which are becoming more frequent and deadly.

In other parts of North Africa, temperatures have been relatively normal compared to annual averages. However, in Tunisia, the mercury soared to nearly 50 degrees Celsius on Monday, prompting the state-owned energy company STEG to announce planned power cuts of between 30 minutes and an hour to preserve the electricity network’s performance.

Last year’s summer saw some devastating wildfires in Algeria, with 37 people losing their lives in the north-east El Tarf province. The summer before that, 90 people were tragically killed in similar fires. In an effort to avoid a repeat of these disasters, the authorities had taken measures to improve their firefighting capabilities, including the acquisition of six medium-sized waterbombing aircraft and the construction of landing strips for helicopters and fire-fighting drones.

The Mediterranean region is considered a climate crisis “hot spot” by scientists, with the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warning of more heatwaves, crop failures, droughts, rising seas, and invasive species.